A proposed federal budget cut recommended by the Office of Management and Budget would eliminate the budget to staff employees for several privately owned airport control towers, like the one at Danbury Municipal Airport, which would shut down the control tower operation.
Photo: Tyler Sizemore

Air traffic control towers at Danbury Municipal and Sikorsky Memorial airports, along with other towers nationwide slated to close this weekend, will remain open at least until mid-June, the FAA announced Friday.

The FAA announced that all 149 towers set to be closed on Sunday would remain open until June 15. The tower closures were proposed by the FAA in response to $637 million in cuts required by the federal sequestration.

"The pressure on the FAA was mounting to do something," said Danbury Municipal Airport Administrator Paul Estefan, a member of the AAAE that filed the federal stay request. "While this only delays the closure, at least it gives us some time to breathe."

Officials with Sikorsky airport in Bridgeport were not available for comment.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he has been in conversations with U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, on what actions they will take to keep the towers open permanently.

"Today's announcement is good news, but it's a delay and not a reversal of a very misguided decision," he said. "I am working on a bipartisan measure to address the larger issue of keeping these control towers open and operating because they are vital to reducing air traffic risk and increasing economic growth."

State Sen. Michael McLachlan, a Danbury Republican who has been urging federal officials for weeks to reverse their decision, said he will continue to oppose "this misguided, bizarre federal directive."

He added that the FAA has $50 million in unspent funds in a separate account that could be used to offset the cuts and keep the towers open. The lawmaker added that the FAA spend more than $700,000 last year to earthquake proof the Danbury tower, "and now they want to close it?"

"These towers maintain safety and order in the skies," he said. "Closing the Danbury tower would be like allowing an intersection with an out-of-service traffic light to go without a traffic director."

There are two types of air traffic control towers -- those owned and staffed by the FAA and those the agency contracts with an outside entity to operate. All of the 149 towers identified for closing are contract towers.

Danbury tower manager Dan May said the typical contract tower the FAA is trying to close costs about $500,000 a year to operate, while a similar FAA-staffed tower usually costs more than $2 million a year.